Santorini and the Second Concert plus Nokia's New 'phone

The Queen Victoria is in Santorini today.
Robin has been there many times before and always enjoys it.
See 'Sun, Sea and Santorini' for one of his previous experiences.

When I last spoke to him, Robin had just completed the long walk up a very steep hill, and was enjoying a cup of coffee and a spectacular view.
He will only be on land a short time, as his second concert is tonight.
So whilst the tourists explore the island, Robin will be rehearsing.

He must be doing something right, and getting excellent reviews from these various trips, as he keeps getting re-booked.
A point highlighted by a waiter this morning over breakfast:

"You're back again? You're always back again."

It's a good job really judging by the views of the younger generation.
Apparently, they rarely, if ever, pay for the music they listen too.
Where has this 'something for nothing' attitude come from?
Free downloads and file sharing are a real concern for most musicians.

However, Nokia have come up with an idea.
They have unveiled a new music service.
You can watch a report by the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones here.
It appears that people will be paying for their music, albeit indirectly, when they purchase a 'phone with this service.

How much of that will filter back down to the artist I have yet to establish.
But it could possibly be a long term solution to the problem.
I shall be watching with interest...

Tuning Trouble, The Wrong Trousers, and MP3 Downloads.

Robin spent some time in Manta, Ecuador, on Sunday, and managed to buy a folding Panama hat, which could prove useful as he's going through the Panama Canal again today.

But yesterday he performed his second concert.
He's been having a few tuning problems on this trip.
It's something to do with the humidity and the extreme heat, especially when under the intense stage lights.
It's easy to lose objectivity when under the pressure of a live performance, so for the concert yesterday he attached a tuner to the neck of the guitar, which reacts to the vibrations, and gives visual cues to support his own judgement.
Adjustments can then quickly be made as he plays.

He was required to do so on a number of occasions, as the guitar strings struggled with the temperature, but fortunately Robin's rather good at minor, and sometimes major retuning.
He can make small adjustments as he's playing, without missing a note, and for more major alterations, he will carry these out as he introduces the next piece, so the natural flow of the concert isn't interrupted.

There was another factor which may have helped with his pre concert relaxation, and one that I've never known Robin do before.
Usually he plays constantly prior to a performance. Either running through the programme or limbering up with right and left hand exercises.
Yesterday he decided to take some time out and unwind.
Guess what he did.

He watched 'Wallace and Gromit in The Wrong Trousers'.



I was quite amused by this. It wasn't that he'd specifically downloaded a copy on his iPod, but son number one had.
It did the trick though, Robin was relaxed, and the audience loved the programme.

Here are some of the pieces he played (not necessarily in the right order):

Asturias - Isaac Albeniz

Canarios - Gaspar Sanz

Mozart Variations

Un Dia de Noviembre & Danza del Altiplano - Leo Brouwer

Tango en Skai - Roland Dyens

Romanza - Trad.

Jota - Trad.

Again, Asturias, Canarios and Romanza can be found on 'Virtuoso', and incidentally, both 'Virtuoso' and 'Eklectica' can now be bought directly as MP3 downloads from CD Baby.

This will include MP3's, JPG of the album art, and a text file of titles, album notes and links to this site.
For the technical amongst you, the MP3's are encoded at top-audiophile-quality, (200kVBR) which is higher than many stores.
Also the files will play on any MP3 player, be it iPod, cellphone, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia, Windows, Mac etc.

So now there's no excuse, you can listen to Robin's music anytime, anyplace and anywhere!